Men's football news
A strong start and finish to the game saw Lewes go eight points clear at the top of the Bostik South table with an emphatic 4-0 victory at Molesey, reports Tom Harper.
Darren Freeman made three changes to the side that beat VCD Athletic 3-0 in their previous game, with Matt Hurley, Billy Medlock and Charlie Coppola replacing Lloyd Cotton, Bouwe Bosma and Jamie Brotherton in the starting line-up.
Lewes started brightly and took the lead after just six minutes through Ronnie Conlon, who finished into the bottom corner from inside the area after a Charlie Coppola cross from the right had been dummied by both Billy Medlock and Jonte Smith.
Coppola was having an impressive game down the right and it was no surprise to see him heavily involved as the Rooks went 2-0 up after 15 minutes, as he played an excellent through-ball for Smith to run on to, with the in-form striker somehow lifting the ball over Molesey goalkeeper Liam Allen and past two covering defenders from an almost impossible angle to double Lewes’ lead.
The same combination nearly saw Lewes extend their lead further minutes later, but Smith missed the target with just Allen to beat after latching onto another excellent Coppola pass.
The game became slightly disjointed around the half-hour mark, as the Rooks were forced to substitute James Hammond and Coppola after they both picked up slight knocks in the space of ten minutes.
Despite this, Lewes should have been going into half-time 3-0 up, as Medlock was harshly adjudged offside when finishing past Allen from close range after the Molesey defence had been unable to clear a Leon Redwood free-kick.
The hosts made a good start to the second half and nearly pulled a goal back early on, as the previously untroubled Chris Winterton was forced into a smart save to keep out a powerful header from a corner.
Without playing as well as they did at the start of the game, Lewes were keeping their hosts at bay relatively comfortably and ensured that Winterton wasn’t called into serious action for the remainder of the game.
The Rooks nearly secured all three points with around 20 minutes remaining, as a goal-bound header from Matt Hurley was cleared from almost on the line after a Redwood corner had picked the defender out at the far post.
Lewes were able to make it 3-0 after 82 minutes through Medlock, who had the simple task of finishing a Marcus Elliott cross from the right into the empty net after an excellent ball into the channel by Steve Brinkhurst.
The Rooks added a fourth goal with a minute remaining, as Elliott scored his first goal for the club with a close-range header after a superb in-swinging cross from the left by Harry Reed.
This was the last meaningful action of the game, with Lewes able to celebrate another impressive win heading into the Bank Holiday weekend.
Post-match Barry caught up with assistant-manager Ross Standen.
The Rooks start their busy weekend with a trip to Hythe Town on Saturday, kick-off at 3pm.
Molesey: Allen, Pratley-Jones, Okai (Roles 75), Lewington, R. David, Kamara, Oyebola, Chalke, Sobowale (Smith 17), Kozakis, Hervi (Brooks 84).
Unused Subs: M. David, Hayford.
Booked: Pratley-Jones.
Lewes: Winterton, Brinkhurst, Redwood, Hammond (Lawson 29), Chappell, Hurley, Medlock, Sow, Smith (Reed 50), Conlon, Coppola (Elliott 39).
Unused Subs: Bosma, George.
Booked: Redwood.
Referee: Andy Bennett
Attendance: 61